


The Metronome Tic

by Lhiannon27



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Music RPF, Norse Religion & Lore, North Til Dawn, Rock Music RPF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 17:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14699085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lhiannon27/pseuds/Lhiannon27
Summary: A group of guys come together and make a band. They have this and their day jobs. But known to only certain people they're also some of the grooviest superheroes around. The fate of the world is in the balance - do they have what it takes to prevent total annihilation?





	1. Oooops

I was running down a mental list of the alterations I’d have to do to the tracks during the next session. I’d gotten lots of good work done. It was a given the guys would be pleased when they heard it. As usual I’d gotten caught up in the music and lost track of time. It was almost dawn. ‘I need to stop doing this.’ I thought to myself taking a long drag off my cigarette, realizing I meant it about that too. I shook my head. Maybe one day.  


Reaching the door that accessed the parking lot I frowned and sighed. Not only was it drizzling, a fog had risen as well. Fuck! I took one last drag and tossed the cigarette out the door. The rain would kill it anyway. I flipped the hood of my hoodie up over my head. Fortunately, it was a light drizzle and this would be enough to get me to my car. The humidity was already working its way into my hair and I could feel it trying to frizz. Never understood why women worked hard, even chemically treating, to get their hair to achieve what mine did naturally. It fucking sucked. I sighed and stepped out into the rain.  


Even though I had my head down and the hood pulled over much farther than usual I still kept my sleek black ‘76 Datsun 280Z in my sights. I liked my car – a lot – probably too much, but she was spectacular. I always anticipated sinking into the seat and hearing her purr. I couldn’t see much with the hood up. And that’s why I tripped. It was so unexpected, and I was super tired so all attempts to catch myself from planting my ass on the ground failed. I mean, I could make this walk in my sleep I’d done it so many times. I stood up grumbling about getting the car interior wet and turned to look at what I’d tripped over. 

I blinked several times trying to make sure I was really seeing what was there. I hadn’t tripped over a what. I tripped over a who. Wrapped up in a fur cloak that was beading the water fairly well, the person was so tiny for a moment I thought it was a child. It was when she looked up at me I knew, albeit small, I was looking at an adult. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of teal – that perfect mixture of sea green and ocean blue. At first glance I thought they were contacts, but the light didn’t reflect off of them that way. It was her hair that really struck me. It was iridescent. Each time I thought I knew what colour I was looking at the light diffused by the drizzle and fog would change it. Once her eyes met mine that’s where they stayed.  


Several thoughts slammed into my head. The first ones being ‘Not your problem, man. Call the cops and let them deal with her. You wanna go home and sleep.’ But there was something in her eyes. They were pleading and at the same time looked at me with recognition. I’d never seen her before in my life. No one could possibly forget seeing those otherworldly eyes. Her mouth started moving and I crept closer to her trying to hear. 

“I O D,” she said several times. I had no idea what the hell that meant. 

I squatted in front of her and she said it once more. I shook my head. She grabbed my soggy hoodie in both her hands and looked me in the eyes. Her gaze was relief but deadly serious. “Se vríka,” she gasped out then collapsed entirely.  


“Goddammit!” I shouted. I jerked to my feet and paced a few times, once again thinking I should just call the cops and go home. But I couldn’t, and I had no idea why. Knowing I was going to regret this for a very long time, I scooped her up and carried her back to where I’d been. I managed to fumble the storage unit door open and closed again. Fortunately, the trigger on the wall panel was far easier. The whole wall slid away revealing the stairs to Sunset. The lights flickered on and I carried her down. 

I set her down carefully on the couch in the meeting room and tried to nestle her into the corner. I realized too late I should have removed the cloak before putting her down. Too late now. I tossed my damp hoodie across the room and flopped down on the opposite side of the couch staring at her. I was still waffling about the cops, but once I chose to bring her down here, there was no going back. I had no idea why the hell I was doing this. This wasn’t like me. Once the guys found out I’d brought someone unauthorized into Sunset I’d never hear the end of it. I’d worry about all that later. I sighed heavily again and lay my head back with my eyes closed. I was thinking about what I was going to do about all of this when I succumbed to my fatigue. I accidentally fell asleep.


	2. Introductions

Something was bumping my foot. I tried several times to kick it away. Sleep was far too pleasant a place to be and I was not ready to leave it yet. The bumping didn’t stop. I sat up half-growling in annoyance, determined to get whatever this thing was far away from me. Looking at my foot I noticed another shoe. My foot was being kicked. I looked up and sighed. The owner of the shoe didn’t say anything, but he flailed his hands out and his expression said everything his mouth didn’t need to; ‘WTF bro?’ I wiped at my face roughly and just nodded. I looked over at her and somehow she stayed asleep though this. I drug myself off the couch, rubbed my face once more, then headed to the kitchen. 

We popped open a couple of drinks and sat at the table. Of course he would be the first one here. We all got alerts whenever someone opened the Sunset panel. It was way too damn early. I’d slept maybe 3 hours. He was fairly unflappable, but there was no mistaking my brother’s annoyance as he glared at me over the can. I gulped back maybe a third of the can and explained to him about my encounter. He listened to the whole thing without saying a word. The annoyance retreated off his face very slowly. 

“Okay, I get it,” he finally said after a few moments of consideration. “But that’s not what we do, and I know you know that. We don’t bring _people_ down here – not even our families, man. Make me understand what you were thinking.” 

I opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out. I shook my head then ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t know. I already told you I thought about calling the cops more than once, but I just couldn’t. It’s the dumbest, sappiest thing but I just _felt_ I had to help her. I got no other explanation.” 

He sighed heavily. “We have to bring the other guys in. They’re going to be even less happy about this than I was.” 

I nodded. “Yeah, I know.” 

Less than an hour later we were all in the Core. More lectures and a few raised voices. I couldn’t blame them really. What I’d done was a severe breach of protocol, and I’d done it for a complete stranger. While sympathetic none of the three of them were totally accepting my ‘gut feeling’ explanation. Not surprising – I didn’t fucking believe it myself. After talking in circles for a good half hour we finally decided we needed to wake her. And obviously, I was the one who had to do it.  
I squatted in front of the couch. Clearly I wasn’t going to kick her foot to wake her. I carefully placed my hand on her right shoulder and shook it gently. Her strange, unique eyes slowly flickered open. The guys were all standing around the couch. Upon seeing them she was instantly startled and sunk into the cushions a little. I had to stifle my smile. Yeah, despite being the good guys, sometimes we could be intimidating. 

“No, it’s okay,” I said in a very low voice. “They’re friends. They’re with me.” It felt a bit silly but I introduced her to all of them. When they all sat she seemed to relax. She was tiny, none of us were, so I kinda understood. 

She looked us all over again before speaking. “I O D,” she said again. 

“I don’t understand,” I told her. 

She put her hand on her chest. “I O D,” she repeated. “That is my name. A i o d e.” 

She spelled it this time. I felt like face palming myself. She had an accent to her voice. One I had no recollection of hearing before. 

“Who are you and what do you want?” a voice behind me demanded. 

Before I could say anything, I heard a hand smacking flesh only slightly harder than playfully. “What the fuck, Stepwise? This isn’t exactly an interrogation.” 

This was followed by a bit of hushed mumbling. “Thanks Reverb,” I interjected. He just nodded. Ex-military both of them, Stepwise and Reverb. They got each other most of the time and It was best to not interrupt. Stepwise wasn’t a bad guy – far from it. He was just really rough around the edges at times, and, understandably, now was one of those times. 

“It wasn’t the question but the way he said it.” Reverb added. 

I tried to smooth things over by asking her what it was she said to me before collapsing. Her eyes lightened a little. “I said se vríka,” she replied. “I found you – in Greek.” 

“Greek?” I asked. 

“What do you mean you found him?” came Cannonade’s voice. Sigh – older brothers. 

She shook her head. “No, not just him. All of you. Been searching for so very long now. The fate of the world rests in your hands.”


End file.
